Left to you

Chapter 6- Unfortunate Situation

Hermione was sleeping peacefully until she heard a knock at the door of her home. She swung herself out of bed and checked the clock. Nearly eight o'clock?! She was going to be late! On the first day of school too! She was out of practice. Hermione jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom with her cat at her heels.

"I'll be there in a minute!" She yelled to the door as she frantically dragged a brush through her hair and put on some light makeup.

Hermione quickly tied her hair up in a ponytail, leaving some pieces of hair free to frame her face. She ran to her closet and chucked on her old school uniform. Thank goodness I packed my bags yesterday, she thought. She ushered Crookshanks into his little carry cage and grabbed her luggage, pulling it to the door before grabbing a granola bar she kept on the counter for emergencies just like this and throwing it into her purse.

Finally, she opened the door and nearly ran into Ginny, who was standing there in her uniform too.

"Surprise!" Ginny yelled and threw her arms around Hermione. "We're school buddies!"

Ginny was right, she was surprised that she had arrived. As she was nearly crushed to death by Ginny's embrace, she looked behind the redheaded Weasley and Harry. He was beaming at her just past the doorway and Ron was standing there sheepishly, inspecting his shoes. Hermione wrenched herself out of her friend's vice-like grip.

"I didn't know that everyone was coming." Hermione laughed. Soon they were all laughing.

"That's why it's called a surprise Hermione." Harry said, pulling her into a hug.

Hermione turned to Ron and gave him a reluctant handshake. "It's nice to see you Ron." she said.

"Same goes for you Hermione," Ron almost whispered. "Always."

All their bags were waiting in the hall of her apartment. As well as Ron's owl and Ginny's recently adopted kitten. It was a black ragdoll and it was very cute. Hermione hoped their cats would get along.

"Shall we get going then?" Ginny said smiling, as they linked hands and apparated.

Hermione felt her stomach flip over as it always did when she did this. Except now she was used to the whole "teleporting" thing, so she didn't throw up like the first few times.

And so, they arrived in a secluded alleyway close to Kings Cross Station. A lot of wizards and witches now took precautions not to spook the muggles, as some of them were still shaken up due to all Voldemort's shenanigans. They stepped onto platform nine and Hermione smiled at the memory. They finally reached the entrance to Platform Nine and Three Quarters and Hermione ran straight through the barrier. She loved the rush of magic. This was one of her first tastes of Hogwarts she had had in a while, and she was excited already.

Hermione stood on the other side, waiting for her friends to emerge. After a couple seconds spent waiting, she became impatient and left to grab a snack from the vending machine. She returned five or six minutes later and there was still no sign of them. She shrugged her shoulders and climbed onto the Hogwarts express for the first time in more than a year. If they're going to be late, I might as well save a carriage for them, she thought.

She had already given her suitcase to the train people to put into the storage. Hermione was now just carrying her purse and of course, Crookshanks. As she sat down, she realised she was ravenous. Extremely hungry. She ate her granola bar in two bites. Hermione anxiously waited for food cart to come past. I should've packed more food. Hermione tried to distract herself by turning her wand into a cat toy and playing with the only other living thing in the carriage. She realised that the train was leaving in a few minutes. She took out her phone that she kept for emergencies and dialled Ginny's number. No answer. Now she was starting to get worried. What could her three best friends be doing? As Hermione was deep in thought she heard the calls for the food cart in the distance. She perked up and saw that the lady had nearly missed her carriage.